Hi all. I was hoping I could get some ideas on how to proceed with a problem with new Ram. Here’s the short version:
At 4k miles a “catastrophic oil loss” (dealer’s words) occurred. Oil all over the engine compartment. They put dye in the new oil and ran it for the day, no leak detected. I was told to keep driving it , “keep an eye on it”.
At 7k miles I smelled burning oil. Opened hood and found a small amount of oil beaded on the underside of hood. Immediately brought it to the nearest dealer. No leak found. “Keep an eye on it”.
12k miles. Oil change. The local dealer put dye in the oil when I told them about the second leak.
smelled burning oil a few days later. Brought it back to dealer. No leak detected.
so as you can imagine this is getting frustrating. Five different mechanics at two dealers are scratching their heads.
Dealer basically says they can’t do much until the problem is determined.
One question I have is this: if the dipstick is not properly seated will oil escape? One mechanic said absolutely not, his partner said “yes, it can happen.”
Other than that I would really appreciate any input/advice.

 

Unless something else is going on, the crankcase (where the dipstick ends up) should be under a slight vacuum. That means oil should NOT be coming out the dipstick.

 

That’s good to know it’s supposed to have a slight vacuum. Thank you. If there is something else going on what could it be?

 

Which engine ya got? On the Hemi, I think PCV system is just a fixed orifice, there is no 'valve' per se. I would have to see the mess to even begin to take a wild guess at where it is coming from.

 

Unfortunately, everything I know about diesel, is written on the inside of my left eyelid..... So, I have no clue where it would be coming from. Best bet is to look at the spray pattern, see if you can trace it back to its origin point.